Abandoned
by Wega the blue sun
Summary: Brago faces his greatest challenge ...SB


Abandoned 

A Konjiki No Gash Bell (Zatch Bell) fan fic by Wega the blue sun

No copyright infringement is intended, I don't own these characters. I do own this fic.

She was getting worse, Brago thought. The doctors and nurses had spent a lot of time with the human, but there was no sign of improvement. As always after a hard battle Sherry was weak and exhausted, but this time she didn't recover after resting.

She'd been hurt before, and even sick, but always rallied after a short while. But things were different now, Brago sensed. They'd returned to her home where Jii had brought in an army of specialists, but none were able to help. Brago had waited impatiently for the doctors to make a diagnosis and cure the girl. A few theories were formed, then quickly abandoned. No one could figure out what was ailing the frail girl.

Finally Sherry had been admitted to the best hospital Jii could find. She received expert care around the clock, yet she grew weaker with each passing day.

This was a unique situation and he was unprepared for it. Standing in the cool white corridor beside the door to her room he turned the black book over in his hands. This was another indication of how things had changed. Normally Sherry wouldn't let the book out of her grasp or sight, but now he was reduced to guarding the heavy tome of spells.

Today his partner was particularly weak, he could tell from the grim faces of the people coming from her room. A few were even crying. He had to see what was going on. He reached for the door handle and strained to hear, but there was only silence.

Suddenly the door swung open and old man Jii stood before him. He beckoned Brago to step inside. "Maybe you'd like to speak to her for a few moments?", the distraught man murmured.

Brago looked at the wizened creature curled up under a heap of blankets. She didn't resemble herself very much ... Usually Sherry was more than a head taller than he, but now she appeared shrunken. Her eyes were sunken into her drawn face and her skin was nearly the same ashy color as his own.

No one had to tell him she was dying, Brago thought. It was plain enough to see, and she seemed in a hurry to leave this world.

Sherry opened her eyes and her dry lips curled to form a smile. "Hello" she whispered. "I look pretty bad", she stated flatly, still the unsettling smile on her face. He didn't reply. There was no point in agreeing, nor was there a point in lying.

"I'm so sorry", she continued. "I didn't see this coming ...I really wanted you to be king, you know." Brago nodded. He'd never doubted her sincerity, she'd always been loyal to him. Sherry tried to speak again, but this time she was too weak. A loud beeping sound filled the air. One of the infernal machines she was hooked up to was making the shrill noise. He wanted to rip the tubes out of her arms and smash the machine against the wall, but before he could move the door flew open and a swarm of humans filled the room.

Brago was hustled into the corridor where he met Jii again. This time the old man wasn't even trying to stifle his tears and Brago turned away at this embarrassing display of emotion.

Minutes seemed to stretch into hours. Finally a doctor emerged from the room, his face utterly devoid of expression, but Brago didn't have to wait for him to make the announcement. He knew Sherry was dead. A few moments later the body, still on the bed but now covered with a sheet, was wheeled by.

There goes my book keeper, Brago thought. And my chance of becoming king. It's all over now. He turned on his heels and raced towards the exit, overtaking the nurse wheeling away Sherry's corpse. A corner of the sheet slipped and he could see the sad, pale face of his partner. He turned the corner and was gone.

Outside the hospital was a little forest, and he ran straight to the first tree and began to tear at it with his claws. "Damn human", he raged, "damn you to hell! Couldn't you have held on a little longer? Why did you have to be so weak?"

He bashed his head against the tree until the wood creaked in protest and his forehead bled. A noise behind him startled him enough to jump back, only to encounter Jii again.  
The old fool had followed him outside. Would he never be free of the annoying presence of these creatures?

"What do you want?", the mamodo growled, eyes blazing. Jii handed him an envelope. "Ms. Sherry instructed me to give you this in case she ..." the old man stopped and dried his eyes. "Please take it, and this too", he said gently and held out the black book. Brago couldn't believe his eyes. He'd left his precious book behind? I'm losing my mind, he thought. He couldn't recall dropping the book.

Brago snatched both items away from the human's hands. The envelope was pale lilac, the color of Sherry's favorite dress. He looked up. Jii was still standing there, staring at him. The look of pity in the old mans eyes was more than Brago could tolerate.

"Leave!" he roared but didn't wait to see if the pathetic creature obeyed his command. Once he'd put enough distance between him and the old man Brago tore open the envelope. A single folded sheet of paper was inside. He took it out and a stiff scrap of shiny material fell out. It was a photograph of himself and Sherry.

He scrutinized the picture. He was standing a short distance away from the girl while she was facing the camera with a faint smile. She looked so healthy ...Brago didn't remember when the picture was taken, maybe earlier this year to judge from the landscape.

Why had she sent him a picture? And why had she made Jii take one in the first place, Brago wondered? Then he turned to the letter. Maybe this would provide an explanation.

He brought the paper up to his nose and drew in the faint scent that was so uniquely hers. A memory flooded his mind ...the time he'd tended to her wounds. She'd trusted him to touch her bare skin ...

The paper was covered with her neat hand writing. "Brago, if you're reading this I'm dead. I don't know how and why I died, but it means that I can't keep my promise to you and I am truly sorry. I know how much you want to become king and ..." Brago roared and tore the letter to bits.

"Stupid, sentimental human!" he fumed and tossed the shredded pieces of paper into the air. If only she'd put as much effort into getting healthy as she did into writing senseless, emotional letters she'd be alive now and he could be shouting abuse to her face. How was a stupid letter supposed to help him? Without his book keeper he wasn't able to fight in the mamodo battles anymore. What would happen to him now?

All his life he had dreamed of becoming king, it was all he'd ever desired. His efforts, the struggles, all had been for nothing. And it was all her fault - she really was as weak as he had feared. He might as well destroy his book right now and return to his own world, for there was nothing left for him in this realm of weaklings.

He turned to walk, where to, he didn't know. Suddenly he was tired, tired of struggling, tired of thinking. A crinkling noise startled him. It was the photograph on the ground, he'd stepped on it. He picked it up and studied it carefully. Sherry, poor Sherry. Had she ever been truly happy, he wondered?

He thought for a moment and began to collect the torn pieces of the letter. Hopefully none were lost, later on he'd try to reassemble it. He carefully tucked the scraps and the picture into his book.

There was no harm in keeping these, he thought. At least this way he could remember her as the healthy, vigorous partner who'd shared his life for a short time. Better than the dried-up thing in the hospital ...that wasn't Sherry. Her body was gone, but her memory would remain.


End file.
